[meteorite-list] Buzzard Hunt

From: Darryl Pitt <darryl_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 6 May 2009 19:26:14 -0400
Message-ID: <88643969-837D-4E7D-BAA1-3EAB48914BAC_at_dof3.com>

Hi,

Loved this email. Really great stuff.

Congratulations to all. It sounds like this was great fun.


All the best / Darryl



On May 6, 2009, at 11:14 AM, Mike Bandli wrote:

> A big congrats to Tett on his first ever find! We were all honored
> to be a part of it and his reaction was both priceless and
> infectious. You couldn't have asked for a better stone, really.
> Beautiful piece ad the Buzzard definitely got him buzzed to find
> many more.
>
> Congrats to Patrick Herrmann for finding some exceptional stones as
> well. That day our little gridding group was like a meteorite
> conveyor belt cranking one out every 5 minutes or so. It is sad to
> see the machinery getting prepped to mutilate the field, but it is
> planting time and farmer's have to farm.
>
> Rob and I noted a few strange firsts (for us) during this trip. They
> are:
>
> Finding meteorite within 2 minutes of arrival at strewnfield.
> Finding meteorite while tying shoe-lace.
> Finding meteorite under water.
> Finding meteorite embedded in cow dung.
> Park car, open door to find meteorite.
> Park car, get out, find one meteorite at the back of car and one at
> the front.
>
> We noticed four (very) elderly folks walking the roads dragging
> magnet canes across the gravel and stopped to talk. It became
> quickly obvious that they had no idea what they were looking for
> when they asked if the gravel dust on the bottom of their magnets
> was the meteorite. We didn't have any stones with us at the moment
> so Rob and I decided to hop into the field and see if we could find
> a stone to show them what they look like. We looked at our watch to
> time how quickly we could find a meteorite and within about 4 steps
> and under 30 seconds we found a stone. We quickly ran back to the
> elderly group and presented them with their first rock from space.
> The reactions were unforgettable. 4 more meteorite hunters born in
> their 70's and warm, fuzzy feelings for everyone. We dubbed this the
> 'Karma Stone' as it led to a chain of events taking us to a very
> fruitful area that we wouldn't have hunted had that not happened.
>
> Some notes on this magnificent fall:
>
> Many of the stones are exceptionally fresh. Some with no visible
> oxidation. The snow has had little effect on the material and this
> is, in part, due to the constant very dry air moving across them.
> Even the stone found under water looked good. Meteorites found on
> top of vegetation looked like they fell that same day. Meteorite in
> contact with the soil, especially with broken surfaces, showed the
> most oxidation. The stone I found in the dung was broken in half
> with the exposed interior facing up, but had no visible oxidation.
> Apparently, cow poo has some anti-oxidizing properties :) Lots of
> flow lines on pieces, which is not so typical for H-type crust.
>
> Another magical life experience on the books.
>
> Mike Bandli
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "tett" <tett at rogers.com>
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 4:21:20 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Buzzard
>
> Hello List,
>
> I have just returned from Buzzard Coulee after 4 exhausting days of
> travel and meteorite hunting. It was wonderful to experience the
> Prairies and to hunt with other meteorite enthusiasts. Hunted with
> friends from the Royal Ontario Museum, Patrick Herrmann, Rob Wessel
> and
> Mike Bandli.
>
> All of us were successful. Mike and Rob took me under there wings the
> first day out and shortly after starting with them I found a 90 gram
> individual with over 90% crust. I was on cloud 9! This stone turned
> out to be the largest our small group was going to find. After giving
> half of my haul back to the land owner, as payment for rights to
> hunt, I
> came home with just under 1/4 kilo (12 individuals). Will post some
> pictures soon.
>
> The plows are now working and it looks like the farmer's fields will
> be
> tilled any day now. However, there is much woodland to be searched and
> I am sure many fine specimens are waiting to be found. The woodlands
> will be extremely tough to search and it will take much more work to
> find anything compared to our field hunting. They may even prove
> impossible to search.
>
> Having walked over 50 km in 2 full days and 2 half days I now have a
> greater appreciation for how difficult it is to hunt for these
> treasures. Buzzard Coulee was easy compared to many and it still took
> about 3 km of walking (on average) before finding a stone. I don't
> think I would have been able to stand West where many hunters were
> lucky
> to find one stone in a day.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Mike (tett) Tettenborn
> Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada
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Received on Wed 06 May 2009 07:26:14 PM PDT